Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 19, 2021 / 14:50 pm
After the national March for Life announced last week it would be taking place virtually, the U.S. bishops' pro-life chair has exhorted Catholics to prayer instead.
"Peaceful prayer and witness must and will continue this year-just in a different format," Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, chairman of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee, stated on Tuesday.
The archbishop encouraged Catholics who originally planned to attend the national March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 29, to instead unite in prayer beginning on Thursday, Jan. 21, the eve of the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The 9 Days for Life novena will continue until Jan. 29.
The March for Life is an annual peaceful pro-life gathering in Washington, D.C. in protest of abortion. It has occurred every year since the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Annually attended by pro-life advocates from all over the U.S., the march is the world's largest annual human rights demonstration, according to organizers.